A global discussion about the impact of shopping culture on brand strategy, led by the strategic community of The Integer Group which is one of the world's largest and most renowned retail, promotions and shopper marketing agencies.

Shopper Culture is now optimized for mobile.

What would a retailer need to do to convince you to pay to visit their store? Some consumers are lining up to hand over thousands of dollars in membership and entrance fees for premium brick-and-mortar experiences they feel are worth their time. Because shoppers can often get products more conveniently and faster online, they are seeking differentiated and exclusive offline experiences.

Stores are already charging admission fees. Depending on the brand, "retailtainment" is viewed as comparable to going to the movies, a night out, or a spa day. For example, the Winky Lux Experience pop-up charged a $10 fee to walk through seven rooms inspired by their cosmetic products, such as a “matcha Zen garden” to promote their Matcha lip balm.The entrance fee was credited toward purchases. If department stores expand from partnering with services such as coffee shops and fitness classes to these kinds of features, their business model may need to change to stay sustainable. While paid memberships have proven successful for retailers such as Amazon, Costco and Sam’s Club, luxury menswear retailer Wingtip in San Francisco is raising the bar by charging monthly membership dues of $125 to $200 and initiation fees of $2,000 to $3,000. Members and their guests can indulge in food, sip on drinks in the whisky corner or wine cave, and enjoy a skyline view from the rooftop.

Invite-only and themed events better connect with loyal customers. Few businesses have truly figured out how to establish loyal relationships. A global shopper survey found that 64% of people feel retailers “don’t truly know them.” Connecting with more focused target audiences outside of the typical retail environment and recognizing advocacy could help combat this notion. Brands such as Apple, Victoria's Secret PINK, and Sephora recognize customers or loyalty members by hosting exclusive in-store events. Lululemon tested a loyalty program that costs $128 a year and includes curated events, workout classes and free expedited shipping. Such offerings are likely to increase in the future: While just 9% of shoppers have taken advantage of invitations to exclusive events, 74% were somewhat or very interested in doing it again.

Technology has become an indispensable part of today’s modern retail environment and if used right, allows brands and retailers to ease or augment a shopper’s path to purchase. But to stay competitive, it seems that many stores are introducing tech with the objective of staying up to date, rather than for the benefits of their shoppers.

KPMG summarizes the allure of new retail opportunities: “The new retail world that we have been promised is here. The tools, strategies and technologies required to be successful in this new world are available. The toolbox for success is here, and it’s up to retailers to choose the right tools from the toolbox in order to grow their business.” When Walgreens introduced digital cooler doors that display and target ads based on facial recognition technology earlier this year, they sure dug deep into what is possible. But does it enable shoppers to a more seamless journey, rather than add to the visual noise while shopping?

The same applies to digital shelves, as just introduced by Kroger, displaying price, nutrition, video ads and encouraging shoppers to scan codes to access vouchers and offers. Great technology but does it address a an unmet need of the shopper?

A recent survey shows that shoppers are wary of technology without a clear perceived benefit for them. 58% of UK shoppers think that “emotion detection technology that adapts your shopping experience depending on your mood “is creepy”. The numbers are similar for facial recognition services that recognize preferences and targeted mobile ads based on proximity to stores.

The economic issues of the recent past have not only shaped Millennials as consumers but as shoppers as well.

The Great Recession left Millennials to struggle with a lack of job security, mounting student loan debt and financial anxiety. In fact, forty-one percent of Millennials are straddled with student debt, which has left many weary of taking on additional debt with credit cards. Fortune reported just 1 in 3 Millennials carry plastic, and if they do, it tends to be a prepaid or debit card.

Therefore, it's no surprise that these financially conscious and debt-averse Millennials are now seeking new payment options from retailers that provide them more flexibility and control over their finances while they shop. Weary of credit cards and untethered to traditional cash or card payments, Millennials seek out wallet-friendly payment alternatives such as payment apps and layaway plans.

IKEA has started renting business furniture out to Swiss companies in a first trial of their new subscription model. If proven successful, IKEA will expand this service into home furniture, making it the first mass-market household brand to offer a subscription for furniture. This will help the brand deliver on its ambitious goals to become more sustainable and green.

IKEA’s move would fit right into the changing mindset and expectations of young, urban shoppers, who are using platforms like Netflix or Spotify to gain exclusive access to content and services like Glossybox or Whisky-me to discover and trial new products. Ultimately, the service would satisfy shopper’s needs for convenience, offering them what we have called fluid commerce.

As subscription services are all about personalization and convenience, brands need to focus in on the shopper experience, ensuring long-term customer retention and, thus, profitability.

It’s no secret that business has shifted to focus more on customer experience and the experience economy. Every large brand is scrambling, rushing ahead to stitch retail and digital ecosystems together; as Dimension Data points out, 92.6% of businesses believe that it is a competitive differentiator. And, as Forbes points out, consumers have five clear expectations of all companies in the experience economy:

The brand’s service level and experience aren’t just competing against the category competitors; they’re competing against every brand’s experience that consumer has experienced

The brand is personalizing consumer experience; the brand knows them and tailors products and offers

The brand provides a seamless, pain-free customer service experience

The brand uses the latest and greatest platforms and technologies to keep up with the next generation of consumers

The brand’s digital platforms integrate seamlessly, and without friction, to retail experience

It’s this last point that should provide pause for brands. There’s no doubt that integrating a brand’s website, app, email, social, CRM and other digital platforms to sync up and work harmoniously is an enormous task. But, creating integration without knowing if the foundation on which the channel rests is solid, is a recipe for disaster.

There is a lot of discussion about failures coming from the Fyre Festival debacle. Most conversations whisper fraud, or shout customer anger, and yet the fact remains that Fyre’s marketing was successful. The social media strategy was extremely savvy and played on all the Millennial triggers necessary to amplify the message across the entire internet with a minimum cost of $20,000 for each influencer. If you want to learn more about how the entire affair unfolded, you can watch the recent Hulu or Netflix documentaries that take a good look at things from very different angles.

In the end, the challenge facing Fyre’s management team wasn’t anything new to the marketplace. Brands everywhere try to tackle the same problems every day. Where they went wrong was creating too much demand for a product where supply didn’t meet customer expectations. Not unlike swarms of holiday consumers piling on top of each other during Black Friday in an effort to score a single big-screen TV at a discount, Fyre failed to harmonize “supply” with “demand” and it cost them everything.

Since Leslie Knope, Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation, uttered these words during an episode of Parks and Recreation in 2010, the birth of Galentine's Day has allowed all women—no matter their relationship status—to get together, usually in the form of a brunch, and celebrate each other.

Over the last nine years, brands and retailers have begun to acknowledge the holiday as it gains popularity beyond fans of the sitcom and into the mainstream.

Bumble created an event that includes free mini services, discounts and promotions on packages, services, and products

But this isn't the only made-up holiday that has been getting its 15 minutes of fame. Chances are that you’ve probably walked past a cupcake store that celebrates "Cupcake Day" on October 18th or a restaurant with a banner citing February 22nd as "National Margarita Day." These newly created holidays and occasions are giving brands and retailers the opportunity to celebrate through sweepstakes, buy-one-get-one offers, and much more.

As these non-official holidays continue to gain momentum, brands and retailers have a tremendous opportunity to observe which of these new holidays feel authentic so they can celebrate and connect with other like-minded participants for another year, or until the next newly generated holiday flourishes.

Today's shoppers are online shoppers and Amazon is a key destination for many. But reaching those shoppers is critical and takes some keen insight on digital advertising and strategy.

Wondering how to achieve digital growth in 2019? The Integer Group has partnered with Salsify as part of their Digital Growth Webinar Series. Tune in on Thursday, February 7th at 1PM ET for the Webinar “Maximizing Your Amazon Advertising Investment with Demand Side Platform,” featuring Aric Annear, Group Director eCommerce for The Integer Group. Together with Salsify, he will be discussing:

–How Demand Side Platform Provides Additional Tools over AMS–How to Take Early Advantage of DSP and Reach More Customers, Faster–How to Make DSP Part of a Comprehensive Amazon Merchandising Strategy

We are a globe filled with online shoppers. And the UK is the world’s third biggest e-commerce market and the world’s second biggest online grocery ordering market. This evolution in shopping behavior has increased the trust and confidence in online ordering and experimentation, giving rise to a new breed of online services: subscriptions. Today, more than a quarter of UK shoppers are signed up to a subscription box, spending more on them than ever before (from £18.49 in 2016 to £56 in 2017), and this is having an impact on their expectations of brands and services.

The subscription e-commerce market has exploded over the past five years, with an increasing number of platforms changing the way we buy and try categories—from razors, wine and whisky, to beauty and groceries. What does this mean for brands trying to keep up with these changing expectations and behaviors?

Research by McKinsey shows that people are subscribing to different offers for different reasons. There is the classic replenishing service that is changing the way we stock up on things. Amazon’s Subscribe & Save or Dollar Shave Club are prime examples of sending out regular stock-ups of a specific product, removing the need to browse and consider different brands, saving us time and money.

As January rolls into February, shoppers’ resolutions to get in shape or to drop a few pounds might be starting to wane a bit. But one thing is for certain, consumers have never been more savvy or educated about what it takes to live healthier lives; and brands and retailers should be prepared to embrace and support this new lifestyle.

To learn more about shoppers approach to diet and health, download the latest issue of The Checkout here. It covers the following topics:

—A look at the activities that shoppers most often participate in to be healthier, and how these activities have changed over time

—The factors that most often motivate shoppers’ to change their lives and be healthier

Sweethearts, a longstanding representation of American romance, will not be found on shelves this Valentine's Day. Necco, the company that has been making the iconic candies since 1986, was acquired by Round Hill Investments LLC in May 2018. But when the company entered bankruptcy shortly after, the plant responsible for Sweethearts was shut down and the business sold on to Spangler Candy Company. Spangler assured fans that they will continue production of Sweethearts, but they were unable to get them ready in time for this year's holiday.

Even without Sweethearts, shoppers needn't worry. There will be no lack of tasty options and innovations to celebrate the season. And there are so many reasons to celebrate in addition to Valentine's Day; brands are starting to embrace rising holidays like "Galentine's Day," "Singles Appreciation Day" or "Just Because Day."

With less than a week until the big game, consumers of all kinds are doing the time honored traditional scramble of trying to figure out where they will watch and what they will need to buy to be ready for the big game.

But which brand will make it in the basket of these viewers? With many shoppers leaving big game shopping until the end, retailers will be working extra hard to ensure their shelves are stocked the all the essentials. And end caps will be shoppers' lifesavers. But will ad teasers have any impact? Lots of brands are pulling out the big guns this year to make waves with shoppers even before the game. Ad previews have been released that feature big stars including:

We've officially entered the 28th day of the United States' government shutdown. Regardless of one's stance on the issues, it's humbling to see brands stepping up to support the estimated 800,000 government employees that have gone without pay for almost a month now. On January 16th, Kraft opened a pop-up grocery store in Washington DC called "Kraft Now Pay Later." The store will allow furloughed workers to take home a bag of Kraft products (such as their well-known boxed mac & cheese) free of charge as long as they can present their government ID.

“During the government shutdown, parents should not have to worry about putting dinner on the table because they aren’t receiving a paycheck,” Sergio Eleuterio, head of marketing for Kraft, said in a statement.

It's not just large corporations that are trying to help government workers out. Small businesses are also stepping up to the 'pay it forward' plate.

Efforts like these not only help those affected by the government shutdown but also pique the interest of the increasingly large number of conscientious consumers who prefer to support companies that give back to the communities they live in. "Do good" acts like these can also generate positive earned media that has a far larger reach than just those who are taking the brands up on their offers.

Whether you like or dislike Amazon, there's no doubt that they've disrupted how we approach shopping and it’s forcing other large companies to do the same.

Amazon is now expanding offline and rapidly changing the grocery shopping experience presenting new challenges and areas of opportunity for today’s grocers. In 2017 alone, Amazon sold $2 billion in groceries online, which is up 59% year-over-year. It’s estimated that Amazon has 18% of the U.S. online grocery market on lockdown, which is double that of Walmart, Amazon's closest competitor.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated that the partnership promises to “redefine the shopping experience for millions of customers at both Kroger and other retailers around the world, setting a new standard for innovation in the industry.”